First Run & Lock Down

Binary logs

The binary logs are used for database replication and they are enabled by default in /etc/mysql/mariadb.d/50-distro-server.cnf:

50-distro-server.cnf

[mysqld]
log-bin

One can disable binary logs by creating custom configuration file under /etc/mysql/mariadb.d/ and name it e.g. 75-local.cnf with content:

75-local.cnf

[mysqld]
skip-log-bin

The status of the binary logs can be inspected by the dev-db/phpmyadmin (package not on wiki - please add) or by the SQL command:

(sql source code) - Show binary logs

SHOWBINARY LOGS;

Binary log can be all removed:

(sql source code) - Reset binary logs

RESET MASTER;

Warning

Use RESET MASTER only if you don't use replication at all or if the server is configured as master first time!

Unmaintained binary log files will grow in count and size and they can consume considerable disk space (in my case it was more than 2 GB). Then
one can purge old files by the PURGE BINARY LOGS SQL command. It can be used in two manners:

(sql source code) - Remove logs older than given file

PURGE BINARY LOGS TO'mariadb-bin.000036';

(sql source code) - Remove logs older than given date

PURGE BINARY LOGS BEFORE'2017-08-24 11:13';

Tip

Purging old logs can be automated by the expire-logs-days configuration option, with number of days to keep logs.

Log's file name can be configured by the log-basename or log-bin options. If not configured, the default mariadb-bin with
numbered extension will be used.

Note

The default (unconfigured) log's file name was changed in time. The older MariaDB versions was using mysql-bin and even older setups was
using hostname in name. It is safe to remove the old files, because they are not used by server more.